


Heavily Worn

by dwarrowdams



Series: Eadgyd, But Not Sad [8]
Category: TOLKIEN J. R. R. - Works & Related Fandoms, The Hobbit - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Exhaustion, Gen, also a brief mention of a spider but nothing graphic, like...so much fucking exhaustion
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-01
Updated: 2020-10-01
Packaged: 2021-03-07 16:28:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 807
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26740636
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dwarrowdams/pseuds/dwarrowdams
Summary: Eadgyd returns home to heal after a particularly exhausting journey.  Set between "Stowaway" and "Letters to Frideger."
Series: Eadgyd, But Not Sad [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1877335
Kudos: 1
Collections: All the Eadgyd All the Time





	Heavily Worn

**Author's Note:**

> I think I mentioned before that Eadgyd gained a bunch of exhaustion on a recent adventure, so here's the fic of her returning home to heal.
> 
> For those not familiar with DnD: characters can gain levels of exhaustion from travelling. Before now, I'd never seen anyone gain more than one or two levels, but Eadgyd got bitten by a spider and gained four on top of the one she already had, giving her a grand total of five. Her companions literally had to carry her away because she couldn't walk and she was one level of exhaustion away from death. Thankfully, she was able to get home and heal before any more shenanigans happened.
> 
> (She still dealt damage to the damn spider after getting bitten, though, because she is a bad bitch.)

Swithun frowned down at the parchment before her. She rarely had difficulty being polite, but after a draining week, she was half-tempted to tell this young Beorning with whom she was corresponding to sod off and make a decision by himself for once.

She paused, taking a few deep breaths as she pushed the parchment aside and looked at Hild, who was preparing the midday meal. Normally, Swithun would’ve told Hild not to worry about an old woman, but Swithun had learned more of the Viglundings recently and was too busy worrying about them to be troubled by things like food and drink.

A knock at the door startled her out of her thoughts. She and Hild looked at each other in confusion: they were both accustomed to visitors simply walking in rather than knocking.

“I’ll see who it is,” Swithun said as she got up and headed towards the door.

Two people she didn’t recognize—Woodmen, she thought—stood at the door, looking very solemn.

“Swithun Beornraed?” one of them said.

Swithun nodded. “What do you seek?”

“We brought your daughter home,” they said, gesturing to the cart.

Swithun rushed towards the cart and was relieved to find Eadgyd within, looking exhausted but still alive.

“Mother?” Eadgyd said as she twisted her head. “You may want to get Hild. I can’t walk.”

The relief that Swithun had felt quickly rushed away. “Are your legs broken?” she asked.

“I don’t think so,” Eadgyd said. “I can’t feel them, though, so perhaps they are.”

Swithun gripped the cart to steady herself. Eadgyd had endured far too much in her life, and it seemed there was no end to her pain. She took a deep breath, squeezing Eadgyd’s hand gently before running into the house to fetch Hild.

“It’s Eadgyd,” she said frantically. “I know little of what happened, but she cannot walk.”

Hild nearly dropped the knife she was holding in shock. “Outside?” she asked.

Swithun nodded and the two of them rushed back to the cart. She paid the drivers handsomely—ignoring their protests that Eadgyd had already paid them—before she and Hild lifted Eadgyd out of the cart and carried her inside.

“What happened?” Hild asked.

“Spider,” Eadgyd said. “In Mirkwood. Different one than last time—she was terrible.”

“Did you learn her name?” Swithun asked.

Eadgyd nodded. “Tyulqin the Weaver,” she said. “She blinded Hanar, charmed Lottie, and nearly did in Dyri. We’re lucky we got out alive.”

“I thought you weren’t going so far into the wood?” Hild asked as she and Swithun set Eadgyd down in her bed, carefully removing her mail corslet.

“We weren’t far in at all,” Eadgyd said. “But she was there all the same.”

Swithun shook her head. “The world is growing darker each day,” she said. “If a spider of Mirkwood has ventured so far towards its borders, I fear what else may happen.”

“It certainly doesn’t bode well,” Hild said. “I’m going to get Avina—she’ll know what to do to counter the venom.”

Swithun nodded as she sat down on Eadgyd’s bed. “All I want for you is a good life, but the world seems bent on denying you even that,” she murmured, trying to hide the break in her voice.

“Sometimes I’m not sure why I’ve survived so much,” Eadgyd admitted. “But perhaps there is something good for me waiting at the end of it all. Perhaps that is why I have survived when at times, I have yearned not to.”

“You are stronger than you know, my daughter,” Swithun replied. “To face what you have faced and still set forth takes fortitude that I have seen but rarely.”

“I am only as strong as those around me,” Eadgyd said. “That strength within me comes from you, from Avina, from Hild, from Frida, and from my companions—and from young Eadgar too.”

Swithun smiled at the mention of her grandson. “He speaks of you often,” she said. “He wants to grow up to fight evil just like his Aunt Addy.”

Eadgyd laughed. “I hope he sees much less pain than his Aunt Addy has,” she replied.

“And I hope the pain you see is nearing its end,” Swithun said. “You have suffered far too much.”

“But I have survived it all,” Eadgyd replied, smiling faintly as her eyes fluttered. “And I am fortunate enough to have you and Hild and Avina and Frida to care for me.”

“And that’s what we’re going to do until you’ve healed,” Swithun said firmly. “You won’t leave this bed without at least one of us by your side.”

She was surprised when Eadgyd didn’t respond, but found that her daughter had drifted into sleep. She leaned forward, kissing Eadgyd gently on the forehead.

“Rest well, my daughter,” she murmured, “and may your sleep be free of foul dreams.”

**Author's Note:**

> I made this offer elsewhere, but it still stands: if you can correctly guess where I got the name "Swithun" (without just Googling it), you win the right to prompt me for Eadgyd fic! (Or maybe for the Tolkientober challenge that Molly Ostertag posted on Twitter, if you want to see ficlets for any of those prompts.)
> 
> The next chapter of the Eadgar Lives AU is coming on Friday or Monday or something, so if you follow that series, keep your eyes peeled for that (it's a good chapter, as Eadgyd and Eadgar finally join the party).
> 
> Please comment if you enjoyed this!
> 
> Tumblr: dwarrowdams  
> Twitter: @_tenderqueer


End file.
